Pages

Friday, January 18, 2013

Fearless Fridays: What do YOU love to do?

I tend to draw inspiration from the oddest places. This week, I was inspired by the TV show The New Normal.

The episode was about finding out who you are and what you are meant to do in your life. One of the main characters Goldie wanted to be a lawyer since she was a kid. In her eyes, being a lawyer represented independence and that she could prove to the world that she could do it on her own. However, that dream of being a lawyer kept getting derailed. But throughout everything, the one thing she loved to do the most was sew. She made all her daughter’s clothes and costumes. She was very skilled at sewing and creating clothing. But she dismissed her talent as a hobby.

At the end of the episode, Goldie realized that sewing was much more than a hobby. And while she thought being a lawyer would give her that independence she sought, she realized that her talent for sewing and creating her own clothing could do the same. And as another of the main characters on the show narrated at the end, “Sometimes you have a plan but you don’t always get it the way you planned.”

Life is never how we think it will turn out. That happens because sometimes we want things that are not meant for us. I do believe that we get many chances to get it right. Many signs are thrown our way during our journey to get our attention and sway us to make the right decision.

However, in life, the choices we make can change the person we later become. And that sometimes makes it harder for us to see what’s already there. Many of us have things we love to do. It’s a gift that we have been given at birth. But many of these gifts seem like hobbies and not something we can parlay into a lifelong career. This causes us to ignore our true calling in life because we dismiss it as just something we just "do well".

As children, many of us are told we should have a traditional career such as a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, or teacher. There is nothing wrong with those careers but they are not meant for everyone. We are all given gifts and talents for a reason. But we become conditioned into thinking that these traditional careers are the acceptable ones and that other gifts like writing, sewing, and drawing are hobbies and not appropriate careers.

Then some of us pursue things that are not meant for us to do. You see these kids on American Idol who want to be singers but can’t hold a note. There are people out there who want to act but just don’t have that talent to do so. But all is not lost. Your calling can be a facet of that. Maybe you’re meant to be a dancer and not a singer. Just because you love the idea of something does not mean it is meant for you. If you don’t have the gifts and talents to support that dream, it is not your dream to live out.

When people tell you that you are good at something and you love what you do, that's more than a hobby. For years, I have had people tell me I am an excellent writer. But I spent many years going down a different career path because I dismissed my writing as a hobby. But I realized that while I did like what I was doing, I didn’t LOVE it. It did not give me complete joy. But writing did.

Some of us don’t believe we can be successful at what we want to do. We sabotage ourselves by telling ourselves “Oh, I can’t do that!” or “I will never be successful at that.” Or we are afraid to walk away from our comfortable job and steady paycheck and take a chance. All I can say, from personal experience, is that life is all about chances. You can do anything you set your mind to. Playing it safe will never help you to realize your dream. I’m not saying do something extreme as quit your current job RIGHT NOW because keeping it real, you have to support yourself and pay bills. But it wouldn’t hurt to start investing some time into your dream and working towards making it a reality.

Acceptance is key. The best thing you can do for yourself in life is keep it real with yourself. The great Eckhart Toile once said “Stress is wanting something that isn’t meant to be.” The answer is always within you. You just have to be ready to listen. And this is not just something you can apply to your journey to find your calling. This is something you can use in your life overall.

So, if you aren’t loving where you are right now and what you are doing with your life, a reevaluation of your life is in order. Always remember that what matters is what you choose to do now and not what you have done already to this point. YOU are the only person standing in your way. So take a chance and do what you love! Goldie took a chance and you can too. You never know. Your hobby might just turn out to not be a hobby but to be what you are meant to do in your life.